I don’t know if I wrote before about this madafaka, but I saw the video time ago and I think it deserves to be remembered. Remember that Rock never dies. Although not so popular as the shit we are used to hear in the radio, the many variations of Rock are always present to satisfy the animal instinct of release tensions and pressures through a powerful shot of Energy directly to the brain.
Anyho… here is again, the Goddamn Metal freaking rooster!
\m/
You must probably know by now, Molotov is doing a European tour and they are going to play in my beloved Munich. Remembering last year’s concert and the funny interview I did with Paco Ayala, I would like to share in the following days the most-known Molotov songs and translate them. Why? Because this material should be shared worldwide. Molotov is an amazing band that still has the power and the energy to protest like years before, but of course with a more mature and rough sound. Some might like it, some others might not… but everyone talks about it, everyone knows them and remembers them once the people hear about… M to the O to the L to the O to the T to the O to the V!
“Puto” is one of the famous songs ever from the band, and all the generations from the X and after truly know it word by word, not only in Mexico, but in all spanish-speaking countries. You don’t believe me? Ask a Spanish speaking who Molotov is, and which song too. Yeah, Puto from Molotov. And why is it so famous? Well, it was released in 1997, in a very conservative Mexican society, in the middle of a tiring and mind-fucked tight society.
The history of Rock in Mexico could be also labeled as before and after Molotov (more precisely before and after Puto), when a boom in Rock in Spanish led to an explicit way of rock, full of “bad words”, but actually words that needed to be said.
Well well, too much chit-chat. Puto is one of the first releases of the first album (maybe the very first, I can not remember) and is simple but powerful, provocative and full of energy, THE song, the one that everyone yells and jumps with. But don’t get confused, people, this song has nothing to do against Homosexuality or the gay community. As a true believer of the Human Rights (and most of all of the common sense) I think the only sickness or deviation is Homophobia. As said before, I had the chance to talk to the guys of the band while touring last year in Europe, besides I know their backgrounds and I can tell you 100% that this song is dedicated to all those coward assholes that keep fucking with the Mexican people.
So, the meaning of “Faggot” here is clearly meant as in the “coward” sense, nothing else. If you don’t believe me, you can check the lyrics down defining “who is a Puto”, or ask any Mexican on the streets if they would dedicate this song to a gay or to a Mexican politician.
And yes, at the left is the original version, and at the right is a fully English version for you to understand. I will do a literal translation and some footnotes can be found after the translation to understand the “Mexicanisms” in the songs of Molotov, that could be a lot. For complaints regard the translation and comments about your mom just let it know below.
¡Cámaras! Continue reading
Annoying, exciting, boring, awesome… Computer Vision and its applications might be sometimes a roller-coaster of emotions, but it is always a pleasure to work with. Some of those familiar with Vision systems, might be aware of some nice properties and most of all, some fancy tools that help us to play around with images and computers; but one important thing that no one should forget in this field is the so-called Fundamental Matrix. If you have still some doubts about its development, then here you have a bit of its application:
Looking for the lyrics. Well, I totally recommend you to go to the website of Daniel Wedge, the creator of this totally entertaining song.
Yes, it is possible and you can do it. Actually you don’t have to be a total expert in programming or Maths. Yes yes, you have to know some good stuff, but being a nerd or a genius is not the point.
Gabriel Taubin, an Argentinian Mathematician researching in Brown University is in charge of this project and made it available for everyone, so if you have 3D Computer Vision as your hobby, then this is the perfect start. As I said, you don’t have to be an expert but you need to go deep into it and it will be totally amazing, I promise. Just have a look to the website:
The final results would be amazing and they provide every kind of tool that you may need. It seems that the used methods vary, but that’s just extra fun. I really encourage you to try it, because it’s cheap, fun and totally useful.
The following video is NOT of the project, but it shows you how accessible is to build your own 3D scanner.
But don’t forget the Kinect, boy!
Dieses mal will ich auf Deutsch schreiben. Ich weiss es nicht, ein Experiment wäre gut um mein Deutsch zu verbessern. Maná wurde am Anfang “Sombrero Verde” (Grüner Hut) gennant. Sie stammen aus Guadalajara, das Land des Mariachis und haben einen sehr Latein-Amerikanischen Rock Klang. Sie mischen karibisches und mexikanisches Rhythmus mit Balladen und Rock, wie gewöhnlich im “Rock in Spanisch”.
Als ich in Deutschland gekommen bin, habe ich ein Paar Ausländer kennen gelernt. Eine gute rumänische Freundin von mir hat mich gefragt, ob ich Maná kenne. Am Anfang wusste ich nicht was sie meinte.
Maná? Denken wir über das gleiche Maná? Und dann hat sie angefangen um ein Lied von Maná zu singen…
“Mariposa traicionera, todo se lo lleva el viento, mariposa no regreso”
Was? “Woher kennst du Maná?” sagte ich.
“Oh, wir alle in Rumänien kennen Maná” sagte sie mir.
Dann habe ich ein bisschen über Maná erzählet. Ich kenne Maná nicht viel aber sie sind groß genug in Lateinamerika, und die Spanisch sprechenden Leute kennen auch natürlich sie. Ich würde mehr erzählen aber es gibt viel und mein Deutsch ist noch eine Schweinerei (also, ich bin langsam).
Dieses mal teile ich ein Lied, dass von meinen lieblingsten ist: “Clavado en un bar”, dass in der wörtliche Übersetzung “In einer Bar angenagelt” bedeutet, aber in Umgangsprache wäre etwas wie “in einer Bar festgesteckt”. Das ausgedehnte Lied kommt im 1997 Album “Sueños Líquidos” und hier spielen sie 2003 im Rock Festival Rock am Ring.
Oe oe oe oooo! Continue reading
In my daily struggling trying to learn the German language I use to try new tools and techniques to improve my skills and be more understandable, but of course many times it doesn’t work just because “Deutsch ist eine verkackte Sprache” as my flatmate says.
But well, I love the goddamn language and I will always learn it. So I decided to install an extension for Chrome called “Language Immersion”, which is an experimental extension that changes randomly the words in the text of the websites that you are visualizing, so it mixes the normal text of your language with some words in the language you wanna learn. You can manage how deep you wanna be into the language ranging from Novice to Fluent (5 different levels)
Simple but an effective idea, isn’t it? Let me post the video that explains how this works:
I’ve tried it and after 5 minutes I stopped it. I think it was going worse than it should. Wasn’t helping at all. Now, I don’t consider myself an expert in German or that I express myself perfectly (nor in English) but I certainly find the translations really shitty. I can say it by now for German, which is a complex language that depends so much in the context and every word in a sentence makes sense when you know the other words too. If you have a sight of what Dativ, Akkusativ and other related things are, then you can get my point. The translation in Google Translate is not optimal and when the context is cut, it falls instantly like a drunk bitch with heels. I don’t wanna imagine it with Hungarian!
Is good that they are using the translation tool from Google, it is pretty massive. They even have Swahili and Yiddish available… but not Japanese! I know is another alphabet, but come on! They have Chinese!
Only 5 levels of immersion don’t give too much to play with. I was in the 4th and around 20 or 25% of the words were translated. Changed to the 5 and then all of them were translated.
A good thing is the possibility to highlight the translated words and when you don’t know the meaning you just click on the highlighted word or expression and it shows it back in the original language. But even better, if you wanna know how is it pronounced, you just hold the pointer over and it says it automatically. Of course you can disable all these features and even the extension itself whenever you want.
But yeah… is a shit and it actually could confuse more than it helps. A good idea with bad translations, few options to choose and a lack of intuition; but as I stated, it’s still experimental, the creators said. I hope gets better soon. By the moment I’ll kick it out of my Chrome.
One of the most interesting and enjoyable styles for me is the Latin Jazz. Makes me remind home every time and I never miss the opportunity to enjoy the sound in it. Although a bit different, Jazz and Latin Music are actually very compatible and many musicians demonstrate so.
Today I’ve been listening to Jazz and its variations and didn’t want to keep it for myself. Here, you have one of the bedt percussionist and most talented entertainers in the Latin Jazz style: Poncho Sanchez and his band. He’s very well known because of his big talent as conguero.
Born in Laredo, Texas and some times considered as Mexican because of his heritage, he successes at giving the hot latin feeling to Jazz melodies. El Sching-A-Ling, one of his classic songs is made precisely for that: give sabrosura to the music. After this video also check I showed them, El sabrosón, his excellent Dizzy Gillespie’s cover to A Night in Tunisia, an many more. Just let him convince you with those delicious sounds, and if you like it please share it to the world, I think he deserves that.
¡Saborrrr!
Science and Comedy have been always connected everywhere because for radical and revolutionary ideas, it is needed a bit of humor and consideration. Both are groundbreaking and quite entertaining if you are in the proper mood.
However only few have had the balls to mix them, play around with them and success with it. One of them is the case of The infinite monkey cage, a comedy series produced by the BBC, where physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince discuss about the relevant topics in Science, such as the origin of life, Probability, Sound, Chemistry, etc.
Before the only science and rational debates mixed with comedy that worth watch were the ones of Bill Maher in his show, where in a round table he discusses different topics of the daily American lifestyle with many personalities. And it was good, politics, religion, science and other disciplines were part of this round table. However, the truly scientific point of view was some times missing due to… well… Bill Maher, although a really good and critical personality, has no scientific background.
This time TIMC offers us Profr. Brian Cox, a guy with an awesome personality and a complete understanding of “the stuff called Science”, and Robin Ince, the acid debater that pulls the attention of the public.
You can check them in the Apple Store if you wanna download their Podcasts, I highly recommend them to those who wanna embrace Knowledge and Reason in a funny way. Otherwise, you can also visit their channel in the BBC podcast website.
Long life TIMC!
Silverio Palacios is a motherfucker! But in the coolest way, like “chingón” in Mexican Spanish. Perhaps due to his phenotype, but the guy has made some very memorable roles in the Mexican cinema, such as the Cucaracha Brothers in “El Infierno“, Gabino in “La otra familia“, Leserio in “Sultanes del Sur” or even “Silverio” in his first leading role at “Acorazado“.
Maybe some films were not that good, but Palacios always gave a gladly demonstration of acting. Most of his roles depict a poor, short, toasted and mustached guy… the average Mexican. He is not the tall and blond guy that in many Mexican movies are trying to sell. No, this is the average Mexican with the same attitude and the sharping personality.
But this time I wanna share one of my favorite performances of him. The following short film is named “Barbacoa de chivo” (“Barbecue of goat”) and belongs to the movie Cero y van cuatro, a film with 4 different shorts describing the daily life of the inhabitants in different parts of Mexico City with a very acid humor.
Barbacoa de chivo relates the story of a poor man looking for some money because he needs expensive medicines for his daughter, who unfortunately has Cancer. As his family lives in poverty and he is unemployed, he decides to do something extreme about it… a hit in the church. In Mexico that is still considered a very heavy crime by the people and it is highly punished in the most uneducated communities, leading some times to lynching.
But the story in this short is delivered with a high black humor, as usual in Mexican comedy. What would happen when a honest and righteous man turns against the church in order to save what he loves the most?
¡Que chingue a su madre!
A new semester in the Uni has begun and in this second week I am already feeling the first pressured tasks. No probs, this time planning and hard work will be a constant besides a good health caring and exercise. Perhaps less Internet Facebook is what I need.
This semester I will struggle a bit with two very interesting courses: 3D Computer Vision and Image Understanding in English and German, respectively. Before I had “Machine Learning Method for Computer Vision Applications” in the same responsible chair but it was so few application and had other courses to attend that required more attention, so I couldn’t experience more in it. That’s gonna change in this semester.
Both courses are held by two very experienced professors. 3D CV is taught by Nassir Navab, whose experience in research is impressive, winning international awards and being a top recognized researcher in the world. He is going to be my lecturer in this Semester. He already began giving some introductory class showing the great advantages of 3D Computer Vision and, most of all, its applications. I was hypnotized, it was great and that’s why now I’m willing to share everything I learn and find in Internet about this matter. It’s really cool and exciting for me.
The second lecturer is Carsten Steger, who’s in charge of the class “Bildverstehen” (Image Understanding) that, as you may suppose, is in German. He is another experienced guy but his field is not in the Universities, it is the industry. He gives solution to real-life problems and that experience is shared in his class. My first impression of him is really good, he’s an open guy with a relaxed style and a very good idea of what he is talking about, besides he can truly explain himself.
Both good professors, both great courses, and an excellent semester to start experimenting with the sources of the student life. From now on you will probably see more often some posts related to Computer Vision, my new bitch (and vice versa).
But we will start with Computer Vision Online, the largest website about CV out there, I think. They offer the newest stuff about CV and its applications, besides some other curiosities and interesting sources, where you can find books, software and even you might find a suitable job for you if you are really into Computer Vision. There are tons of positions in many Universities and Labs. I recommend you to check it out!
And finally I share this video from the chair of Computer Aided Medical Procedures & Augmented Reality (CAMPAR) in the TUM, where the researchers just adapted a Kinect sensor and started to track a guy’s body to virtually visualize it as in a magic mirror. Watch it!
¡Ahí se ven!
Mayitzin 